Abstract:Much political speech takes the form of protest movement slogans, tweets, artistic expression, or hazy and underdeveloped arguments. Such “inchoate speech” poses a challenge for deliberative conceptions of democracy. Because such speech does not take the form of clear argument, it is not easily amenable to uptake in deliberation. However, ignoring this kind of speech, which is often employed by non-elites, would violate norms of deliberative democratic inclusiveness. This paper concerns how a deliberative system can facilitate rational uptake of political views expressed in inchoate speech by having intermediary institutions “reconstruct” such speech. I consider how engaging with such reconstructions can be a way of including inchoate speakers in public deliberation even when the claims in the reconstructions differ from the claims made by the inchoate speakers. Answering this question is, I argue, crucial for understanding how a deliberative system can be inclusive while maintaining high quality deliberation and a privileged role for argument.

Date/Time

28/03/2017 10:00-12:00

Venue

Room 1027, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU

Language

English

Registration Instruction

Registration is not required.

Contact Information

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Dr Jamin Asay by email at asay@hku.hk or by phone at 39172796 or by fax at 25598452.